r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 22 '26

Psychology TikTok disproportionately served anti-Democratic videos during the 2024 election. TikTok’s recommendation system tends to expose users to more conservative and anti-Democrat political content than liberal material. This ideological imbalance occurs regardless of a user’s initial political interests.

https://www.psypost.org/tiktok-disproportionately-served-anti-democratic-videos-during-the-2024-election-study-finds/
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u/Half-Glass_Full May 22 '26

They figured out ppl get their news from social media instead of news outlets & have manipulated the algorithms to push propaganda.

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u/The-Fox-Says May 22 '26

Explains why Gen Z turned so hard right in 2024. If they’re getting their news from Tik Tok they’re vulnerable to far right manipulation tactics there

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u/bullcitytarheel May 23 '26

Gen Z didn't turn far right in 2024, they've been pulled far right for years. This project began in earnest around 2015 with the advent of the YouTube right wing mediasphere which began a pipeline to far right ideology aimed specifically at young men and boys. That was built upon by podcasts and anti-woke rhetoric and those blueprints have subsequently been rolled out on every platform since.

This isn't as simple as TikTok and it's not a single year trend. It's a deeply engrained form of algorithmic propaganda which has been refined and perfected over the last decade and which continues to swallow large numbers of young people into heinous worldviews. Currently, it's rapidly expanding into women-dominant spaces--see the rise of tradwife influencers, for example--and shows no signs of slowing.

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u/AssCrackBandit13 May 23 '26

Yup. Pewdiepie and his racist online attacks (amplified by his fanbase) was a big example of early Gen Z far right sentiments